1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the oil and gas industry. More particularly, the present invention relates to an oil and gas spider apparatus with a built-in antenna arrangement and related methods for use in a riser management system that monitors and manages a plurality of marine riser assets having identification tags through utilization of the spider apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In the oil and gas industry, a riser is a string of pipe between the sea bottom and ship or rig. Oil and gas riser pipe strings are assembled using a device known as a “spider.” The spider feeds and connects each section of riser pipe in the string. Spiders can have different configurations. Some spiders are made of a solid ring that the riser feeds through; some spiders are made of two pieces that close around a riser pipe and then feed the riser pipe through. For each configuration type of spider, the riser pipes are all fed into the spider in the same orientation.
During a typical field installation at sea, marine riser components are individually lifted. from the deck of a vessel, connected to each other at the riser spider, and run down. Riser joints, which comprise the major length of the riser string, are fabricated in lengths ranging from 50′ to 90′. During the running procedure, the portion of the riser string that is fully made up is landed on the riser spider. The next riser joint is then picked up and placed just over the spider, immediately above the suspended riser string. The two riser sections are then joined by means of a mechanical connector.
Riser Lifecycle Management Systems (RLMS) have been described, such as in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 8,074,720. Such riser lifecycle management systems, for example, can provide asset managers a list of all the riser assets allocated to specific vessels and provide a further breakdown of those assets that are currently deployed, are on deck, or are out for maintenance, along with the expected return date; a list of upcoming scheduled maintenance events; an estimate of the amount of operational life being expanded by a particular riser asset; and an estimate of the total amount of operational life used by a particular riser asset, along with the details of the most damaging events (i.e., a certain hurricane event). Such riser lifecycle management systems can include, for example, a central database that can be used by field and maintenance personnel to maintain and communicate critical riser information, and that can enhance both routine maintenance scheduling and identifying a need for an unscheduled maintenance event.
Conventional stationary readers associated with a riser spider can interfere with normal operation of the spider. For example, known designs can require contact of an antenna and tag. Other conventional designs may call for the reader to be positioned too far away from the tag to be read without substantial loss in tag signal or data collisions from other adjacent tags if the tags do not include anti-collision provisions. Currently, directional 125 kHz RFID tags are being embedded in drill pipes and read using a handheld reader in a manual process.
Conventionally, directional 125 kHz RFID tags are being embedded in drill pipes and read using a handheld reader in a manual process.